University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust sees improvement in oesophago-gastric cancer treatment

At the start of January, the national oesophago-gastric cancer audit was published for the period of April 2017 to March 2020. The audit found that University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) had continued to be better than the national average across many areas of oesophago-gastric cancer care.

Throughout the period covered by the report, UHP delivered the second largest number of oesophageal resections (203 cases) and came in at sixth for the number of overall oesophageal and gastric resections combined (243) in England and Wales.

The data showed that the morality rate for 30 day and 90 day is 0.4% and 2.2%, down from 1% and 2.9% respectively. This translates to a 1 year survival rate of 87.5%, up from 85.5% in the previous report.

Arun Ariyarathenam, Oesophago-Gastric Consultant Surgeon at UHP, said: “This data, in addition to representing the hard work and dedication of a large multi-disciplinary team working at UHP where this complex surgery is undertaken, is also a tribute to the cohesive working with our colleagues in the regional hospitals across Devon and Cornwall.”

“Teams across the Trusts have helped to facilitate every step of the patient pathway, from initial diagnosis, pre-operative optimization, experienced theatre teams to delivering complex post-operative care. This care extends to appropriate long-term follow-up across the region with improved communication between patients, local specialist teams, and UHP, to timely monitor and address concerns."

“All these actions directly contribute to outcomes that are being reported. Even in the current climate, teams across the Trusts have supported each other, doing the very best that they can for our patients."

"While this encouraging data shows that UHP has continued to be rated higher than the national average across many areas of oesophago-gastric cancer treatment, the report also highlighted areas that could be further improved upon, giving teams a focus for a continuous challenge for further improvement."